Free Republic

For the last hour or so, I have been unable to post comments on various conservative websites. At first, I was getting error messages pertaining to servers, and now I don't even get that far - just the spinning "Disqus is taking longer than expected" message. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

I live in the Seattle area and just lost all TV connection via Comcast. Is anyone anywhere having similar problems?

Gay pride month is winding down. Has anyone heard news reports of conservatives, Trump supporters, Christians, or members of the "alt-right" disrupting or attacking ANY of the myriad gay rights events that have taken place across the country in recent weeks?

Today on my local ABC news outlet, I heard a story that several of the threats against American Jewish centers were determined to have come from out of the United States, and are believed to be coordinated. I haven't heard anything about this anywhere else. Can anyone confirm it?

A theme song for Trump?

The University of Illinois maintains a website monitoring global sea ice. Recent data is unprecedented (in my experience) in its strangeness.

I just came from the National Review Online website, and it seems to be under an unprecedented attack from trolls, who are flooding threads with obscene, hostile, and extreme content. The trolling comments are so pervasive that they would overwhelm the efforts of moderators to control them. This seems organized, and it is extremely disturbing even if you think NRO represents "pantywaist" conservatism. FR could be the next target for this sort of attack. The comments are so bizarre and often self-contradictory that they have - dare I say? - a demonic tone.

Here is the link: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/spd-sets-national-example-with-lgbtq-friendly-safe-haven-plan/

For the second day in a row, I have gotten a strange security warning when trying to enter the National Review website. It warns me of spyware, gives me a phone number to call, and even has a voice message. I have not found a way to escape that message short of shutting down my computer. It seems to be a fake security warning. Has anyone else encountered this problem? If so, do you know what is going on and what to do about it? Thanks.

Under the Dome - Are there any good guys in that town?

The man arrested in Seattle earlier this week in a stolen vehicle containing explosive devices has been described by police a self-proclaimed anarchist who planned to make a "statement" in support of the Brazilian's who have been protesting the government in recent weeks. The man reportedly had maps of three local college campuses.

Sarah Palin's usage/invention of the word "refudiate" in a Twitter message has again been referenced in a story in The New York Times. Setting aside the question of whether "refudiate" was the result of ignorance, an innocent typo, or whimsical invention, I'm wondering if Obama has ever made a similar gaffe concerning the spelling or meaning of a word. I know there was the "57 state" gaffe, the mispronunciation of "corpsman", the reference to the non-existent Austrian language, and so forth, but I'm curious about gaffes specifically involving word usage or spelling.

During the Reagan era, the media described roving bands of right-wing militias in Central America as "death squads." Why, then, are the terrorists and murderers in Iraq described with the neutral term "insurgents"? These people are doing exactly what the "death squads" did - targeting both random civilians and "collaborators" with the government (including humanitarian and relief workers), yet the media treat them very differently from the Central American thugs.

The rules prohibit posting Washington Post material directly, but Mary McGrory has taken a predictable cheap shot at Bush, faulting him for "allowing himself to be hauled around the country like a fugitive." McGrory compares Bush unfavorably with Giuliani and even Tony Blair, and concludes that Bush "flunked" the test of leadership but has "three years to take a makeup exam."

A first step in dismantling racism is to admit that it lurks even in "civil Seattle," even among the "good folks here," more than a dozen religious leaders said yesterday in announcing a yearlong agenda to address racism. "The racism we live with is part of us," said the Rev. Boyd Stockdale, who is white. "It is not possible for me, in my culture, to say, 'I am not racist.'" Stockdale and 14 others from a variety of denominations launched the "Year of Action Against Racism and White Privilege in the Northwest," a series of teach-ins, speakers, film and book ...

Employees of the King County Juvenile Court in Seattle have received a performance evaluation guide which uses a photo of Mother Teresa to illustrate "mediocre" performance and a photo of President Bush with a chimpanzee depicting "unsatisfactory" performance. The photos appeared on a one-page document titled, "Performance Now, Quick Visual Reference Guide," which was inserted into a larger packet of legitimate materials. Some employees who received the document called it "disrespectful, biased, and anti-Catholic." One woman said she thought the document was part of "a larger pattern" which "makes her feel unwelcome" on the job. Another woman, Orla Poole, e-mailed ...

After being elected by a minority of voters, and after vowing both before and after the election to pursue an agenda of conciliation and cooperation, the Bush administration has demonstrated a relentless quest for a radical and unpopular right-wing platform. On the environmental front, despite overwhelming popular opposition, the administration has, among other things, proposed to open up the national monument and wikderness areas for gas and oil drilling for the sake of a few months' supply of oil; has stricken down the limits on poisons such as arsenic in the drinking water; has attempted to strike down the requirement ...

Washington Post writer Howard Kurtz says that in David Brock's forthcoming book, "Blinded by the Right," the ex-conservative admits to having "lost my soul" and having printed allegations about Anita Hill that "he knew to be untrue." Brock also alleges that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, through intermediary Mark Paoletta, tried to "spread derogatory information about one of Thomas' critics," Kaye Savage, who made anti-Thomas allegations in the 1994 book, "Strange Justice." Paoletta, currently employed by a House committee, says Brock's story is "simply not true." Thomas has thus far declined comment. Brock also admits to having "demonized" Democratic senators ...

Juanita Lozano, a former office manager for George W. Bush's media adviser, has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and perjury, accepting responsibility for stealing and mailing debate-preparation materials to the Al Gore campaign, then lying about it to a grand jury. Under the deal she reached with prosecutors, Lozano faces a $200 fine and a prison sentence of from six months to a year under federal sentencing guidelines. A judge could allow her to serve her time at home or in a halfway house. The plea bargain concludes a case that began with the September 11th mailing of ...

In a basically incoherent rant claiming that the press is being "soft" on Bush, Washington Post columnist Geneva Overholser makes the following preposterous claim: "Conservatives have built up a well-funded. well-targeted set of organizations aimed at shaping public opinion. And the press obliges. The left has nothing comparable."